Valve-operating mechanism



Many zo. 1924..

F. R. wss-r VALVE `OPERATING uBcHAuIsu 3 Sheets-She'et 1 FiledK llrch 28. 1922 wenn,

F. R. wE'slr' VALVE yollmlvlrma MBcHANI'sM- Filad Vllawh 2,8- )922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 wuentoz IMI? Wwf Patented May 20, 1924.

l ED STA- FRANK R. WEST, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

VALVE-OPERATING MECHANISM.

Application ined March 2s, 1922. serial No. 547,880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK R. VVns'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Valve-Operating Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an internal combustion engine and particularly to that type of internal combustion, engine which is designed to operate under frequent variations of' load, such yas the engines used in the propulsion of auto vehicles.

Some of the load variations to which automobile engines are constantly subjected are those due to changes in bothspeed and in the steepness of grade of the surface traversed' by the auto vehicle.

yOrdinarily the power of the engine is varied to meet the conditions of load, by controlling the amount of combustible mix# ture supplied thereto, and this is usually done by means of a throttle valve interposed 2.5 in the mixture line between the carbureter and the combustion chambers.

Throttle control of the combustible mixture has been proven, from the engineering j standpoint, to be an ineiiicient way to operate an engine under variable load conditions. This is true for the reason that when the mixture supply from the carbureter to a cylinder is partially cut off, the descent of the piston creates avoid which cannot be fully satisfied by the availableflow of mix-r ture, a partial vacuum thus remaining 1n the cylinder at the bottom of the intake stroke. This leads to at least two consequences. which .militate against the efficiency of lthe engine. Thesev are first, a com- -pression pressure which is less than the nor mal compression for which the engine was designed, and less than it would have been had no sub-pressure existed in the cylinder 46 at the beginning of the compression stroke. This results. to a proportionate extent in reduced power of the engine caused by p'oor combustion and diiiiculty/in the-ignition of the charge, to compensate for'which a richer l5c mixture than would be otherwiseine'edful is generally resorted to. The otherfdeect', throttle control is the pumping of oilhfrom j the crank case into the cylinders in'rfwhich partial vacuum is created in*q thejmanner above set forth, said pumping causing av lchambers and fouling of the spark plugls.

The present invention contemplates varying of the degree vacuum in the com bustion chamber by filling it more or less with an inert gas on the early part of the intake stroke, leaving room for the subsequent inspiration of just sufficient combustible mixture to meet the'A demands of the load. In this way the void within the cylinder is satisfied as fast as it is formed bythe recession lof the piston, and there is no partial vacuum at the beginning of the compression stroke. Therefore the maximum pressure of compression is always uniform. -Moreover there. cannot be excessive drawin up `of the lubricating oil past the piston rings, with its attendant waste' and carbon troubles as aforesaid, and the amount of combustible lmixture supply to the combustion chamber is just suilicient for the needs of the engine under the articular load of the moment. As the a mission of the combusv tion mixture follows that of the inert das. the two gaseous bodies stratify in the cy inder with the combustible mlxture on top, surrounding the terminals of the spark plug. The rapid sequence of the' functions of the enginecycle precludes material diffusion be' tween the gases of said strata. I

The object of the present invention is to provide means whereby the above propitious results may be accomplished, whlch means may be vsubstituted for the ordinary vthrottle valve and operated in a similar manner, atv will,`or automatically.

A more specific object .of the .invention relates to the grouping of valves in ports or passages and to mechanism for the vvariable relative operation of said valves and particularly to the arrangement-of-valves in the intake and exhaust ports of the-cylinders of internal combustion engines or the like, with the object of'improving the ther-- mal eiiiciency of the engine when operating under partial load conditions.

' For ythe attainment of these ends and the Vaccomplishment of other new and useful ob aswill appear, the invention consists "tithe features of novelty in the construc- 'tion,"jcombination roo andgarrangement of the panying drawings and described in the specification, but more particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

` In the drawings Figure -1 is a side elevation of an internal combustion engine embodying the invention of the present application, art being in section showing the intake va ves.

kFigure 2 1s a section taken along the line 2-2 of '.Figur'e 1.

FigureBis a diagrammatic view showing the intake and exhaust valve ofA a single cylinder with the operating means therefor.`

Figure 4 is a detailsectional view showing a group of valves controlling a port, the stems of the valves being in a position other than co-axial.

Referring new in detail to the several figures, the numeral l()v represents a cylinder supported in any suitable manner upon the crank case 11 and-in which the piston 12`rev ciprocates, the latter being connected to the crank shaft 13 by the connecting rod 14. The cylinder is provided with the usual intake and exhaust orts 16 and 17- respectively Vsaidports being controlled'by the respective main intake andexhaust valves 20 and 21. Said valves are operated from a vcam shaft 28 through push rods 43 `and 45'. acting upon rocker arms47 "and 49, 'the latter bearing upon the stems of the respective intake and exhaust valves for operating them in proper sequence against the tenslon of the springs 51. The cam shaft 28 is driven from the crank shaft 13 by means of two-to-one gearing represented, by the gear wheels v31 and 30, and there is"'nothin`g in the description of the construction ofthe engine up to the present point which is not common and normal to well known types of internal combustion engines employed in the propulsion lof auto vehicles.

lt is contemplated, however, in the present invention to dispense with t'he usual throttle valve (not shown) .and to provide the engine with auxiliary variable operating valves controlling the intake and exhaust ports. To this end said ports are` provided With additional valve seats 26 and 2 7 witlr which the auxiliary variable valves l22- and 23 cooperate. Said valves are, for convenience of illustration, shown with hollow stems surrounding the stems of the main intake and exhaust valves and being 'co-axial therewith. This arrangement of valves, however, is not essential to the invention` and 1n 'speciall designs of intake and exhaust l ports they may assume the relative positions` ytively-arranged in other ways.-

shown at and 56 in Figure 4, or be rela- Said auxillary valves are normally held closed by springsl52. j

v In adaptin an'internal combustion engine to thev use o this invention the `cam 319 by lformed with a nose suiiiciently broad to hold the exhaust valve open not only during the entire exhaust stroke of the piston but also 4 the exhaust manifold .as the piston descends on the intake stroke. The breadth of the nose 41 of the cam 39 should be designedv to hold the exhaust valve open on the intakestroke for a duration that will permit the admission of the maximum 'quantity of exhaust gas that will ever be required in the normal operation of the engine. The object of this exhaust gas is, as stated in an earlier part of the specification, to fill the void within the combustion chamber on the suction stroke to an extent which leaves only that degree of sub-pressure necessary to draw in the roper amountof combustible mixture required by the load upon the engine. The maximum amount of exhaust gasand con? sequently the minimlun amount of combustible mixture would be admitted at the time when theben 'ne is under lightest load. For all other loa s asmaller quantity of exhaust gas is admitted to the combustlon chamber and this is controlled by shortening the duration of the open period of the exhaust,

port, this being accomplished by the auxiliary variable exhaust valve 23. Said valve is arranged to open synchronously with the `main exhaust valve 21` when the greatest duration of openin of' the exhaust port is to be maintained. he main intake valve 20 also is associated with an auxiliary variable intake valve 22, and as the quantity of combustible mixture admitted to the cylinder is complementary to the amount of exhaust gas so admitted, the auxiliaryintakevalve will be so controlled as to shorten the duration of the open period of the intake ort at the time the duration of o ening'of tlIaJe exhaust port is lengthened, an vice versa.

Vfarious means may be employed for operating the auxiliary variable intake and exhaust valvesl in the manner so described, one of which means I have exempliied in' the present embodiment of the invention,

susA

said means consisting of an auxiliary cam shaft 29 vdriven indirectlyA from the crank shaft-30 and possessing an independent os'- cillatorymovement with respect to the 'cam` shaft 28, said shaft having intake and exhaust cams-38 and 40 which operate the 1"e` which lthe main exhaust valve is operated is valvewhensaid valves are .operated in synchronism. The auxiliary intake and exhaust cams are so set upon the auxiliary cam shaft 29 that when the main and auxiliary intake' cams are positioned in the same phase as ,shown in'- Figure 3, so that the intake valves open synchronously giving the greatest duration of port opening, and therefore the maximum admission of combustible mixture to the cylinder, the auxiliary exhaust ca1'n will cause the variable exhaust I valve 23 to close before the main exhaust valve 2l, inthjs manner shortening the duration ofl opening of the exhaust port' and admitting a relatively small amountof exhaust gas to the cylinder.

Oscillation of he shaft 29, by means of which the length of the open periods of the intake and exhaust ports is controlled, is accomplished by means of a shaft 34; which is longitudinally movable by any manual or automatic means such as the lever 53 the latter having a forked end engaging the channel of a collar loosely mounted upon the shaft 34. Said shaft is provided with two gears, a spiral gear 33 and straight spur gear 35. The former meshes with a splral gear 32 rotatable upon the shaft 29 and in constant mesh with the gean A3l which is driven from the crank shaft gear 30. The straight spur gear35 meshes with a gear 36 fixed to the shaft 29. The breadth of the gears 33 and 35 is such that they remain in mesh with their respective associated gears throughout the range of longitudinal movement of the shaft 34. When the latter shaft is reciprocated--lthe spiral teeth on the gear 33 tend to rotate the gear 32 but as the latter is positively in train with the crank shaft gear, it cannot turn synchronously with relation to the crank shaft but reacts upon the shaft 34, turning the latter and with itA the gear 35 which as previously .stated meshes with the gear 36. By means of this gear the auxiliary cam shaft 29 ,is oscillated through the desired angle, actuatmg in the manner aforesaid, the variable `intake and exhaust ,valves causing an earlier or later cutting ofi' of the duration of thek open periods of the intake and exhaust ports while the main valves controlling said ports are open, the movements of said varlable valves being at times Vin synchronism with the main intake and exhaust valves,.respec tively at the limits of maximum and minimum loads.

It is* of ,course apparent that the'invention does not concern itself particularly with Ithe specific train of gearing or operating means by which the oscillation vof the shaft l 29 is produced relativeto the cam shaft 28 -nor is it essential thatthe valves be of the overhead type here sho`wn. (The invention however does concern itself vitally withthe" means both broad and specific, for 'controlling the amount of combustible mixture drawn into the cylinder by the suction of the piston, not by creating a greater suction as is the case where a throttle valve is used but by filling the vacuum with inert gas and thereby reducing the tendency of .the cylinder to draw in combustible mixture to that extent only which is absolutely neces-l 4 sary for taking care of the load upon the engine. v

In'operation, should it be desired to re-l duce the duration of the open period of the intake port as when, operating under reduced load or when idling, the shaft 34 may be .will always be less than the normal period lof opening of the main intake valve, except when the vmain and auxiliary intake Valves are operating in synchronism, which is their normal relation when the engine is under full load. This period may be varied at will by the operating 'means above described. In this manner an effective substitute for avthrottle valve between the carbureter and intake manifold is provided and the amount of fuel sucked into -thecylinder under variable conditions may be so regulated.

Itwill be further seen that as the shafts 28 and 29 revolve, operating the intakel valves in nonsynchronousrelation to each other the opening of the intake port is out of synchronism with the movement of .the piston and retarded, and at the same time, due to the dwell produced by the broad nose ofthe exhaust cams, the closing of the exhaust port also is retarded so that during the first part of the suction stroke the exhaust port is open and the intake portY closed., After the exhaust port closes the intake port opens and remains lopen during the remainder. of the suction stroke. As a consequence of the exhaust port`being open dur-l ing the rst part of the suction stroke,-a ,cer-` tain amountv of exhaust gas and atmospheric air is drawn in during this part of the `stroke and positioned against the piston when the exhaust port is closed andthe 'intake port opened and the charge of combustible mixture is sucked in andpositioned on top of the exhaust gas and air, surounding the terminals of the ignition' device 15.I

The stratified layers completelyl filll the comlas,

bustion chamber, diffusing only to a-negligil ble amount, and at the'r'noment of explosion the compression is-.thesame as when operat-4 ing under full load, although less combustible mixture is used.

It will bereadily understood that while, in the present disclosure, the invention is applied to a single cylinder with a single intake and single exhaust port, it may equally well be applied to the ports of a plurality of cylinders or to a plurality of intake land exhaust ports in a single cylinder, Without transecting the scopeof the invention and that while, asshown, each cam operates a single valve it is within the rovince ofthe invention to operatea plurality of valves by a single cam."

Wherefore I consider that my invention, resides primarily in the broad aspects hereinbefore set forth, and only secondarily in the details of construction and arrangement, and' I do not restrict myself to the particular construction here disclosed, but only by the terms of the claims and the state of the prior art.

What is 4claimed as new is:

1. In combination with the cylinder of an internal combustion engine having intake and exhaust ports, a pair of valves 4for each of said ports, means for operating said valves, and means whereby theoperation of the valves of one of the ports may be thrown out sof synchronism while 'the valves of the oth'erl synchronism.

2. In combination with the cylinder of an internal combustion engine having a piston therein and intake and exhaust ports, a plurality of valves for each of said ports, and means adapted to throw the valves of each port into or out of synchronism whereby the valves of the intake port can :be held closed and the exhaust port held open during the whole or any desired portion of the suction stroke of thev piston.

3. In combination with the cylinder 'of an internal combustion engine having a piston therein and intake and exhaust ports, a pair of valves in each of said ports, means port are thrown into .whereby the valves of the intake p orts may be operated synchronously with each other and with the suction stroke of the pistonand the exhaust valves may -be operated-out of synchronism with each other while at the same time the exhaust port is opened and closed synchronously respectively with the beginning and ending of the exhaust stroke of the piston.

4. In combination with the cylinder of an internal combustion engine having a piston.

therein andl intake and exhaust ports, a palr of valves in each of said 1 ports, cam shafts having cams thereonfor operating the valves, the hams for operating' the exhaust port valves being located on the shafts s as to operate the exhaustklvalves out of y synchronism when the intake port valves witnesses. f

afname having cams kthereon for operating the valves, the cams for operating the exhaust port valves being located on the shafts so as to operate out of synchronism when the intake port valve operating cams are in synchro ism, means for throwing the intake port va ve operating cams out of synvalves being chronism and the exhaust port valve operating cams into synchronism, the construction of the exhaust valve operating cams being such that when operating synchronously the closing of the exhaust port will take place after the suction stroke of the piston has begun.

6. In an internal combustion engine of the four cycle type having a piston therein, a crank shaft for operating said piston, intake and exhaust ports, a pair` of intake valves for' said intake port and a pair of exhaust valves for said exhaust port, a pair of cam shafts one operating in constant operative. relation with the piston and the other adapted to be advanced or retarded in operative relation with said constant cam shaft, cams on each of said shafts corresponding to and adapted to operate one valve of each port.

7. In an internal combustion engine of.

the four cycle type having a piston therein, a crank shaft for operating said piston, intake and exhaust ports, a pair of intake valves for said intake port and a`pair ofexhaust valves for said exhaustsport, a pair of cam-shafts one operatingin constant relation with the 'piston and the other adapted to be advanced or retarded lin operative relation with said constant camshaft, a cam on each of saidshafts correspondingto and adapted to operate one valve of each port, the position of the cams-on the shafts being such that when. the intake valves are`operating in synchronism the exhaust valves will be operating out of synchronism, the exhaust valve operatingfcamsbeing given a longer dwell than the/intake valveI operat- In-te'stimony whereof I have hereunto set i lENocH RECTOR, Roar. J. Enom?. 

